Vermeer Accu-Bale question

[purplewg]

Has any one modified this for a visual indication or a louder audible indication? I'm not a wealthy farmer that has cab'd tractors with A/C and all and it is all I can do to hear the accu-bale alert over the tractor and I wanted to wear hearing protection. If I were to wear hearing protect I would never here the alert. I actually changed tractors to pull the baler this weekend cause I couldn't hear the alert on the larger tractor.

 

[purplewg]

Guess I will try to answer my own question. lol

I have been thinking about this for a while now. The baler had always been used with plastic string. The tensioners looked to be tightened to the max for the tiny plastic string. Now., I changed it over to a biodegradable sisal twine. My thoughts are that maybe the twine arms are not fully retracting because there is so much tension on the feeder twine that the arms are being held a bit by this tension. At the very end of travel the leverage on the arms is at its weakest and if the twine running through the feed arms is too tight it will actually try to hold out the arms from the fully retracted position.

That is my theory and I will have to try it when I get some more hay on the ground and let anyone interested know.

 

[bulldog69]

I have used both types of twine on my Vermeer and I had it set for sisal first and then switched to plastic. I didn't even change the tention on mine and it worked fine. The biggest thing I see is to make sure the knives are good and sharp. My tention is set fairly loose. Just enough to have some resistance on the string and it almost never fails.

 

[purplewg]

Thanks Bulldog. My tensioners are as tight as they will go. I do plan to loosen them and try it. The tension on the string is really tight. The knives are sharp and it appears the tension is so tight the right twine arm is being held by this tension.

Due to the weatherman predicting 40-50% chance of rain everyday I haven't cut any. It is my luck I end up baling in the hottest part of the summer. lol

 

[bulldog69]

I'm not sure if we have the same type of tention setup or not. Mine is just out of the twine box with a spring loaded plate that pushes down against another plate with the twine in between. I can raise the upper plate up with just my finger. It seems to work fine and there is just enough tention on the twine to cause a little resistance when you pull it out by hand. It's hard to explain this but if I was guessing I would say there is only maybe 3 to 5 lbs of pull on the string and I would lean more towards the 3 lb side of the scale. I can't imagine the tention being so tight that it would stop the tie arm from working. If yours is that tight I definately would back it down and then try it out.

We went thru the rain every day already and now it's so hot here that you can't hardly stand to go out side during the day. It's plain miserable during the day. I know what you mean about the buzzer on the moniter. Mine acts up about half the time and fails to sound. It just works when it want to so I have to watch the moniter screen and look for the icon to come up so I know when to stop. I wish I had a warning light to go along with the buzzer that way I would have a 50-50 chance that one would work. My old baler had a warning light on it so I had wired one up in front of me so it didn't matter which way I was looking I got the light. I miss that but for sure don't miss the baler.

 

[purplewg]

Yeah mine is basically the same except there is one for each arm. If memory serves me right, there is one inside the cover (twine area) and one outside on the opposite side. You can't hardly pull one edge up on mine. I had a similar setup on my old NH baler. It never dawned on me this could be too tight.

To sort of give you an idea of how tight it has the tension, I wrap the bale, stop the PTO and then of the wrap cycle, I can walk back and grab the lever that has the knife on it, push it into the twine and snap, she is cut. lol

Don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. I guess with learning everything going from a baler I have used for more than 10 year to this one was a learning curve. I fixed my old 5x6 NH and am keeping it for a spare. lol

 

[blueriver]

I changed it over to a biodegradable sisal twine.

So why did you elect to make the change?

 

[bulldog69]

I thought of a good way to describe mine that make more sence. Take a piece of twine and hold it in one hand. Hold down on it hard enough to cause tention but not hard enough that the string would burn your fingers as it was being pulled out by your other hand and that is about how tight my tention is set.

I know what you mean about learning the new baler. It does have a strange learning curve at times but it's usually worth it. I had made the mistake of buying a M&W baler and I was nothing but happy to see that junk go on down the road. There was only two ways to look at that baler.

1) It would break down early while the parts store was still open.

2) It would break down late so that maybe you had the chance to get some done during the day. You could count on one or the other of these would happen everytime it came out of the shed. Of course some times you would get both. It would go down in the morning and the evening. That was the only thing you could depend on was the fact that it would break down and leave you hanging.

 

[purplewg]

So why did you elect to make the change?

I guess I am lazy. The plastic twine doesn't rot and the cows can't digest it. Lord help me if a horse eats it. I usually put out four 5x6 bales at a time so to strip all the string off of it would be a real pain.

By the time have to start feeding hay again the sisal is gone, rotted away.

 

[purplewg]

1) It would break down early while the parts store was still open.

2) It would break down late so that maybe you had the chance to get some done during the day. You could count on one or the other of these would happen everytime it came out of the shed. Of course some times you would get both. It would go down in the morning and the evening. That was the only thing you could depend on was the fact that it would break down and leave you hanging.

Ha, sounds like my old NH. It wasn't if it was going to break down, just when. Every season it seemed I worked on it more (hours) than I baled with it. Just the year before last I replaced all the bearings and both roller chains, all the worn floor chains, floor guides and thought I was good to go. NOPE! The the crap under the side cover started failing. Then the hydraulic cylinders decided to start leaking. Got them rebuilt and then the hydraulic lock for the gate failed. It's all fixed and working now sitting in the barn. lololol

 

[blueriver]

I guess I am lazy. The plastic twine doesn't rot and the cows can't digest it. Lord help me if a horse eats it. I usually put out four 5x6 bales at a time so to strip all the string off of it would be a real pain.

By the time have to start feeding hay again the sisal is gone, rotted away.

I hate the plastic and even more hate cutting it off the bale and gathering it up to get rid of it .... I am concerned that the first cutting in May that doesn't get used say until Dec or Jan ... will it be rotted off at the ground when you pick the bale up?

You say you put out four at a time and then by the time you feed again the sisal is gone ... how much time between feedings?

 

[purplewg]

You say you put out four at a time and then by the time you feed again the sisal is gone ... how much time between feedings?

The sisal will rot if it gets wet. I store my hay in a barn on pallets that I collect where ever I can. This keeps the string off the ground.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It is gone by the next season I start feeding hay again. So when I quit feeding hay in spring the sisal is gone by the time I start feeding again come the next winter.

What is on the bale when I put it out stays in the field. The cows figure out how to eat around it. The next bale goes right on top of whatever is left over they won't eat which is mostly poopy hay and twine.

 

[blueriver]

Okay ... got it now. So stored outside the sisal would probably be rotted by the time I was to feed it ...

 

[bulldog69]

Purplewg, have you tried stacking the hay that you have in the barn on it's side instead of the normal round side up? I started stacking mine on their side and when you get them back out they are just as pretty and round as the day they came out of the field. This works out real good if you sell them. Seems to make a better impression on the buyer when they look like they just came out of the field.

 

[purplewg]

Okay ... got it now. So stored outside the sisal would probably be rotted by the time I was to feed it ...

They also make a treated sisal twine that will last longer before rotting. Not sure how long it lasts. I have used it and it does rot. It just takes longer.

 

[purplewg]

Purplewg, have you tried stacking the hay that you have in the barn on it's side instead of the normal round side up? I started stacking mine on their side and when you get them back out they are just as pretty and round as the day they came out of the field. This works out real good if you sell them. Seems to make a better impression on the buyer when they look like they just came out of the field.

Thought about it but I don't have a claw on my FEL, just forks. Harder to handle the other way. Also, I don't sell much. I use just about all I can bale.

 

[bulldog69]

I don't have a claw on my loader either. I use a spear in the field to load my trailer and then to unload at the shed then put my forks on and flip it over on the flat side and stack it up. If you have a good level shed it always stacks good and straight. Depending on how big you loader is you can really stack it up. I have a friend with a big NH that stacks his 3 high and then will put one roll on top of another and set two up on top which gives him a 5 roll high stack. I don't have that much loader myself. They really do look a lot better and the strings don't have as much stress on them stacked this way so they hold the hay tight all winter. When you pull them out the bales don't hardly drop any off at all.

 

[purplewg]

I might have to give that a try with these smaller bales. I was doing 5x6 till I got this baler.

 

[bulldog69]

One big plus to side stacking is they will stack up so straight. You know how some bales will be just a little one sided or barrel shaped and then when you stack them it will make the pile lean either to the front or back. As long as you start out level they will stay level all the way up. To me it's a lot safer doing it this way. It doesn't take up any more room to do it this way so I bet you will like it better. Have a good one.